Cold, Dark, January Nights

Sunday, January 15, 1911: Hardly remember what I did today. This evening I accompanied my lofty sister up to Oakes.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma had two sisters. Besse and Ruth. Besse was the oldest and already married by the time Grandma began keeping this diary. Ruth was 3 years older than Grandma and still lived at home—so this entry must be referring to Ruth. I wonder why Grandma refers to Ruth as lofty?

Grandma would have walked down this road past another neighbor's farm to get to Oakes--except imagine that it is dark and very cold.

The Oakes family lived on a farm that was located about a mile from where Grandma lived. Grandma and Ruth would have gone down the road that went past their farm in the opposite direction from the way they headed when going to McEwensville.

I don’t like to go out after dark on cold, dark January nights. Grandma and Ruth would have gone up a hill and then turned into a lane to get to the Oakes home. Did they walk to Oakes—or did they ride in a carriage or wagon? Was there a full moon? Did they take a lantern?